Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s new Netflix show was panned before it even began screening, thanks to a 90-second trailer that showed her looking like a domestic goddess, arranging flowers, collecting honey from a hive and dishing up a sumptuous cake.
But the lifestyle programme, With Love, Meghan, could end up boosting her bank account by many millions, despite the criticism.
The show, streaming on Netflix from this week, may be seen by enough people around the world to promote her other ventures, including her brand American Riviera Orchard, which sells products such as homewares, and that could prove extremely lucrative, say business experts.
“The wheels are now in motion for Brand Meghan to finally come to the forefront and for the world to see what she really loves – which is entertaining, cooking and giving top tips on how to live a joyful life,” says brand and culture expert Nick Ede. “She has the opportunity to maximise on it in a big way.”
Meghan’s fee for the show will have come out of the $150 million deal she and husband Prince Harry, 40, already have with the streaming platform, but she’ll make serious cash on top of that with merchandise she sells, predicts Nick.

There are also likely to be spin-offs from the show, such as books.
“This is a very clever marketing tool and can earn her extra millions in the process,” tells Nick. “Depending on the success of the show and her fans’ appetite to live and breathe her brand, she will be able to monetise it in a big way. If she gets it right, she will become the next Martha Stewart or even Oprah Winfrey.”
However, other experts say only die-hard fans of the duchess are likely to be convinced to spend money on the products she’s selling as a result of watching the eight-part series, which shows Meghan, 43, cooking, gardening and hanging out with celebrity friends.
Royal historian Tessa Dunlop says a reality show in which a “very rich woman pretends to teach us little tips and tricks” won’t go down well with a lot of people.

“Demonstrating how ‘we can incorporate these practices’ into our domestic lives, as she meanders through her sun-dappled kitchen garden, retro basket in hand, before attending those designer beehives, dripping with honey… It’s so out of reach for the vast majority, it is laughable,” says Tessa.
Meghan – who says in the trailer that the show is not about the pursuit of perfection, but “the pursuit of joy” – has copped even stronger criticism from US blogger and TV personality Meghan McCain.
The former co-host of The View says With Love, Meghan is in bad taste given how many people in the US, and worldwide, are struggling financially. She hit out at the show for being unrealistic, with the footage in the trailer appearing “highly curated and out of touch”.
Meghan, 40, says she was a fan of the duchess until “she disrespected the royal family”. She adds, “Now that she wants to be American again, instead of British aristocracy, what she seems to forget is Americans want real, raw, uncensored.

“This concept is ill-advised. I would have told her to do a show helping bring fresh food to food deserts in low-income neighbourhoods. Do something to help people instead of your ego.
“This is why the world doesn’t like you, nothing else. Just completely and utterly tone deaf to the moment.”
Other critics have pointed out that the series, which has been touted as showing an authentic Meghan at home, rings hollow because it’s not even filmed in the Montecito mansion that she shares with Harry and their children, Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, three. Instead, a neighbouring house was hired for the shoot. Some touches from her own home were included.

It’s also been pointed out that the programme appears to be similar to other lifestyle shows, including two by former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, 57, Pamela’s Garden of Eden and Pamela’s Cooking With Love.
People have also accused Meghan of blatantly trying to be another version of US homemaking guru Martha Stewart, 83, or Oscar winner and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow, 52.
But her supporters say the show is the next step on from The Tig, the blog Meghan wrote before starting a relationship with Harry. Then starring in the TV series Suits, she covered fashion, travel, food and interiors on The Tig, as well as providing insights into her private life.

She closed it in 2017, not long after her royal romance became public knowledge. At the time, a spokesperson said that wasn’t due to palace restrictions but because running The Tig was pretty much a full-time job. Meghan couldn’t fit it into her busy schedule anymore.
Friends say With Love, Meghan is a passion project like The Tig was, and Meghan has poured her heart and soul into it.
A TV industry source says figures are likely to be high to start with because there will be a lot of curiosity about the show.
“It will be interesting to see whether people continue to watch,” says the insider.

But one star of the series, who could be seen snoring in his basket, will sadly be missing. Her beloved pooch Guy died last week.
“If you followed me on Instagram back in the day, you saw a lot of him – and on The Tig too,” she says. “He was with me at Suits, when I got engaged and then married, when I became a mum. He was with me for everything – the quiet, the chaos, the calm, the comfort.”
Meghan adopted the rescue dog in 2015. She says she hopes viewers will understand why she is so devastated by his death.

“I have cried too many tears to count – the type of tears that make you get in the shower with the absurd hope that the running water on your face will somehow make you not feel them, or pretend they’re not there. But they are. And that’s okay too.”
Meghan’s loss comes as Los Angeles was being ravaged by devastating fires. As the Weekly went to print, the Sussex family was facing evacuation of their $22 million home as it is in a high-risk fire zone.
Tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave their houses as strong winds and dry conditions led to a state of emergency, with the destruction of homes and properties, and loss of lives.
Stream With Love, Meghan on Netflix today.